Minute of Islands is an oddly beautiful game about dead giants and their mysterious machines

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Mo is a tinkerer who lives on a chain of islands that was once inhabited by an ancient race of giants, whose strange, dilapidated machines must be kept running in order to keep a ancient, mysterious threat at bay. She sets off on a quest to restore them all, to ensure the protection of her people and her home—but there may be more to the task than she fully realizes.

The unusual visual style in the new trailer for the adventure-platformer Minute of Islands that appeared during this weekend's Guerrilla Collective is what first caught my eye, but it's the promise of the story that's really interesting. Mo's "Omni Switch" tool will take her through puzzles and platforming segments as she works to regain control of the machines that keep her world safe. But can she repair the damage beneath the surface—and should she?

(I strongly suspect the answer to that question will be, "Maybe not.")

Minute of Islands is being developed by Studio Fizbin, a German developer whose previous releases include The Inner World point-and-click adventure series, which is quite good and also a little weird in its own right. It's expected to be out later this year, and until that happens you can find out more at minute-of-islands.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.